Thursday, October 09, 2014

A Grand Fiesta in Quezon City

In recent years, the Maginhawa Street
area in Quezon City has been the toast of foodies. Quaint cafes and restaurants
with interesting concepts as well as good food and intriguing offerings have
sprouted along the two-kilometer street, which stretches from UP Village and
Teachers’ Village to Sikatuna Village in the
district of Diliman, and its environs, drawing not only students and teachers
from nearby universities such as the University of the Philippines (UP) and the
Ateneo de Manila University but also food enthusiasts all over Metro
Manila.

“It was just a quiet
neighborhood that you pass through going to UP or to Commonwealth Avenue,”
recalled Marge Santos-Roa, executive director of the staff of Speaker of the
House of Representatives Feliciano “Sonny”
Belmonte Jr., a mayor of Quezon City from 2001 to 2010, and a Krus na Ligas
resident who frequently passed by the area.

About six decades ago, the area was
an empty tract of land, remembered amateur historian and former councilor of
the city Alberto Galarpe. Presently head of the Liquor Licensing and Regulatory
Board of the Quezon City government, he made a short report on the history of
the area: “One big project of the Philippine
government to honor and benefit the teachers of government schools was the
conversion of a vast tract of land bounded by East Avenue, Elliptical Road and
Kamias Road as the Teachers’ Village in Diliman.
It was developed by the People’s Homesite and
Housing Corporation in 1954. All roads in the village were named after the virtues
and moral values of teachers such as Maaralin, Mapang-akit, Mahinhin,
Malumanay, Masikap, Madasalin, Marunong, Maginhawa, etc. The national government through the PHHC developed the place
as a housing project for teachers. However, it only awarded lots to teachers
and government employees interested in the project. The Teachers’
Village is now considered a prime and fully developed community near the city
hall with hospitals, schools, government and private offices, hotels and
restaurants existing in a commercial area.”

Santos-Roa remembered Nanette’s
Snack Haus, which was known for its version of the burrito, being the first
eatery to open along Maginhawa Street. She said that in 2009 or 2010, the food
scene began to blossom. Now, there are numerous eateries operating in the area,
most which are endemic, including Pino, Breakfast and Pies, Cool Beans Café,
The Snack Shack, Burger Hub, Stuff Over Burger Café,
Friuli Trattoria, Cocina Juan, Crazy Katsu, Gayuma ni Maria, Van Gogh is
Bipolar, Don Day Korean Restaurant, Blacksoup Cafe + Artspace, The Breakfast
Table, Leona Art Restaurant, Nuezca Café, Roberta Flavors of
Asia, Sancho Churreria Manila, The Sweet Spot, The Iscreamist, Ally’s
All-Day Breakfast, and Frosted Desserts.

The city government of Quezon City
has been planning to make the Maginhawa food strip a tourist destination, and
it may well start with the food festival happening on October 11, 2014.
Santos-Roa is heading the event, which is one of the highlights of the diverse
line-up of activities and events for the 75th anniversary of Quezon City’s
cityhood on October 12. According to her, the whole Maginhawa Street will be
closed off to traffic, and people will be encouraged to walk the whole stretch.
They are hoping to gather all of the restaurants in area, which will offer free
samples, and the feel will be a veritable Filipino fiesta. Other activities
will be mounted such as cooking demonstrations and live entertainment so that
people will not be bored or get daunted walking the stretch of the street.
Additionally, Quezon City Food Festival commemorative plates will be given to
visitors.

Joining the festival is another
Quezon City district, long popular for a certain kind of food —
La Loma, which has several restaurants and stores selling the popular
spit-roasted pig, the lechon. It will
mount a boodle fight on Dona Manuela Street featuring 75 lechons for everyone to partake.

The Quezon City Food Festival on
Maginhawa Street is also an attempt to project Quezon City as a food hub of
Metro Manila. The city actually has two milestones in recent Philippine
culinary history. Jollibee, the country’s most successful
fast-food chain, opened its first restaurant, an ice cream parlor then, in
Cubao. Also, the popular Max’s Restaurant
originates in Quezon City, on Roces Avenue in Kamuning. Named after owner
Maximiano Jimenez, the first restaurant opened in 1946, serving fried chicken
to the United States Army Liberation Forces encamped there.

Any of the Maginahawa restaurants
has the potential to be a well-loved and well-established dining haven. One
day, we tried five — Hillcrest Wellness Café,
Roasterrific!, Jek’s Ku-bo, RBy’s
Steak and Shake, and Snow Crème —
which will be participating at the Quezon City Food Festival.

Hillcrest Wellness
Café

Located
at the ground level of a small building at 48 Malingap Street, one of the side
streets of Maginhawa Street, Hillcrest Wellness Café
basically offers coffees, shakes, sandwiches, pastas, crepes and desserts, all
declared to healthy. One of the owners, Baptist pastor Reuel Tica, said the café
is about wellness both of the body and spirit.

“For
the body because everything on the menu is healthy —
shakes, chicken, teas, coffee, fresh fruits and vegetables. All the sweeteners
are made from coconuts rather than white refined sugar,”
explained Tim Kennedy, the American senior director of corporate social
responsibility of Hillcrest Wellness Cafe and a missionary at the Hillcrest
Family Life Baptist Church, the café’s partner whose
headquarter is across the street. “Wellness of the mind
is seen in the atmosphere. Deep and beautiful art hangs on the walls to fill
your eyes; gentle music fills your ears; over 150 quotes from around the world
to fill your mind. The staff here is more than friendly; they will love you and
listen to you.”

Kennedy
came to the Philippines for missionary work but stayed behind after falling in
love with the country, though there are several things that he can’t
get used to like the temperature. The opening of Hillcrest Wellness Café
came as a blessing.

“I
love the Philippines, however, it sure is nice to have a cafe just like home
right around the corner,” he said. “The
air is set to 28 Celsius from 7 A.M., when they open, to 1 A.M., when they
close. They offer a strong Wi-Fi connection for free, great for UP students to
kick back, chill out and study. Honestly, I find myself spending more and more
time here. So if you see an American sitting at the Hillcrest Café,
stop and say, ‘hi.’”

Like
he said, Hillcrest Wellness Café is cozy. Artworks
decorate the walls. Evangelical books line the shelves by the entrance,
including Pat Robertson’s, which can be uncomfortable and
off-putting, remembering how he broadcast hateful and misinformed statements
about the LGTBQ people. It may be better to concentrate on the food.

Coffee
is sourced from the Cordillera region, which they make into concoctions such as
Coco Macchiato (P140 to P150) with coconut syrup and Moringaccino (P120 to
P130), cappuccino with malunggay (moringa). Wellness shakes include the
refreshing Berzinger (P130 to P160), which is a blend of green apple, cucumber
and ginger, and the Moringanana (P145 to P165), which is a fusion of malunggay and banana. For a meal, try
the pasta dishes — herb pesto (P190), chicken pesto
(P220), beef and tomato (P180) and tuna aglio olio (P200) —
or the sandwiches — tuna tortillia (P160), chicken sandwich (P165) and foccasiadilla (P145). For dessert, their crepes, priced at P185,
pair two ingredients/flavors: banana mango, strawberry banana and apple
cinnamon.

To
cover the wellness aspect on all sides, Tica said the dishes are prepared with
love and even prayed over. Also, part of the café’s proceeds goes to
charities and ministries, which means you are helping out by eating here.

Hillcrest Wellness Cafe on Malingap Street

Beef tomato pasta

Chicken pesto pasta

Roasterrific!

From the “heavenly,”
here’s something definitely sinful! But
Valerie Chow contends that their lechon is
healthy. She and her brother Jeff own and manage Roasterrific! on 152 Maginhawa
Street in Sikatuna Village, and their most popular item is the Roasted
Heb-a-licious Lechon.

Valerie said the recipe was passed down
from her grandmother, who used to cook the whole pig in a pugon, a brick or stone oven. Now, they use the modern oven, which
is healthier. Also, the lechon is
healthier because it is not fried but cooked in its own oil.

The twice-roasted lechon is described to be a combination of the Cebu lechon and Ilocos bagnet, served chopped, sprinkled with herbs including minced
lemongrass, and with rice and an addicting, homemade sweetish brown sauce,
which has a spicy version. If the sauce becomes cloying, you can dip the pork
in vinegar, which refreshes the palate. Perfectly roasted, it is one of the
best pork dishes I have tasted!

With a passion for food, Valerie started
out and still participates in food markets and bazaars such as the Mezza Norte
at the Trinoma Mall, where she sells roasted chicken, roasted liempo and Japanese lobster balls. Aside
from the lechon, Roasterrific! also serves Peking-style roasted chicken,
grilled liempo, pancit canton, chopseuy with lechon,
daing na bangus (smoked milkfish),
pork and fish sisig, hickory pork rib
fingers and pork barbecue.

Roasterrific! will soon open a stall at
the food court of SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City. For orders and inquiries,
call 881-6088 or 0923-7009716, or email at roasterrific@gmail.com.

Roasted Herb-a-licious Lechon!

Roasterrific! owner Valerie Chow

Jek’s Ku-bo Bulalo at Ulo-ulo

Maginhawa residents coming home from
work too tired or too lazy to cook pass by Jek’s Ku-bo Bulalo at
Ulo-ulo on 77 Maginhawa Street in UP Village and take home a meal. Jek’s
Ku-bo is also popular with students who want good home-cooked food in a turo-turo place.

Like many restaurants in the area, Jek’s
Ku-bo is a home converted into a dining place. The bungalow can accommodate
about 50 diners. The front porch is converted into an alfresco dining area.
When there are many customers, they can be accommodated in the garage.

The restaurant is named after the owner,
Jessica Frayco, popularly called Jek, a barangay
councilor who is a resident since 1967, and Kuya Boy, Jek’s brother who helped her start the
business, which opened on May 12, 2012.

The home-cooked dishes are laid out in a
glass counter, where diners can point out the dishes they want. Menu changes
every day, said Frayco, but there are mainstays, the favorites of diners, which
include the bulalo (P150), the sinigang na ulo ng salmon (P130), salpicao (P95), adobo flakes (P80),
Vigan longganisa (P80), tapa (P80) and daing na bangus (P80). On some days, they serve kare-kare, Bicol Express, dinuguan, pork binagoongan, chicken curry, callos,
pork sisig, fried tawilis, fried catfish and dishes of
vegetables in season.

For orders and inquiries, call 434-7362.

Jek's Ku-bo Bulalo at Ulo-ulo

Pork binagoongan

Owner Jessica Frayco with son Miguel

Fried tawilis

Bulalo

Sinigang na ulo ng salmon

RBy’s Steak and Shake

Wedged between small restaurants which
were apartment units, RBy’s Steak and Shake is owned by sisters
Rowena Zapata-Vera and Bernadette Zapata-Acuña, thus the name.
Zapata-Vera has stayed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and decided to bring here
its iconic regional fast food, the Philadelphia cheesesteak or the Philly
cheesesteak sandwich. They use grilled sirloin beef in seven-inch Italian roll
and garnished with caramelized onion and cheese. The classic variety, which
uses cheese spread, goes for P160, while the hoagie (with American cheese,
lettuce and tomato) sells for P190, relatively cheaper that other restaurants’,
apt for their clientele composed mostly of students.

RBy’s is at 152-A
Maginhawa Street. Call 0917-3159481 or 966-2798, or visit Web site
http://www.rbys.net.

RBy's Steak and Shake

KnockOut Steak Burger

Pink lemonade

Snow Creme

In
a building with mostly food joints at the corner of Maginhawa Street and
Makadios Street, Snow Crème offers Taiwan desserts, drinks and
light snacks. The restaurant is owned by architect Bryan Kho and Michelle, who
are newlyweds. A trip to Taiwan inspired Snow Crème, whose main
offerings are flavored and milk teas and smoothies in myriad flavors. An
interesting item is the shaved ice dessert, smooth and delicious, which is
topped with different ingredients such as grass jelly, chewy taro, sweetened
beans, diced fruits, sweet potato balls, mocha balls, rainbow crystals and
coffee jelly, and drizzled with purees and syrups, reminiscent of halo-halo.
The shaved ice, which is light as feather, is the best alternative from the
heavy desserts like cakes and pies.

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About Me

ROEL HOANG MANIPON
How do I begin? There's not much but then there's so much. But it must begin somewhere, so here it goes: I will begin with something "mundane" (but really not mundane; they're all cosmic to me. These are what I do, and thus a big part of what I am: a journalist, poet, fictionist, essayist, cultural researcher, travel writer, publication designer, sometime painter, amateur photographer, translator, strip dancer, masseur, model and a natural cook. Whoa! That sounds a lot. But really, not doing all at the same time, may two or three at the same time, but all them in me. And there are other things that I want to do or be, like being an astronaut, archaeologist, filmmaker, etc. I think one lifetime is not enough for me. Often I don't refer to them as simply jobs but passions. Oh, yeah, I'm forever a student too. Forever a boy.